Search Results for: lemonade

Children’s Fiction of 2008: Odd and Quirky

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath.

From Alice to Zen and Everyone in Between by Elizabeth Atkinson.

In fiction and in life, odd and quirky either works or it doesn’t. In From Alice to Zen and Everyone in Between, it works even though I had to push through a little discomfort with the seemingly stereotypical characters at first. In Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures, the quirkiness falls flat, and I was left wondering whether the author meant for the characters to be believable or not.

From Alice to Zen is a tale mostly about Alice, an only child who just moved with her parents from Boston to Major Suburbia. The cliches start coming fast and furious from the beginning of the book: a suburban cul-de-sac filled with snooty suburbanites, an old tree that almost got cut down by the builders of Hemlock Estates, role-reversal in which the boy that Alice meets loves fashion magazines and decorating ideas while Alice herself prefers soccer and go-carts, the popular clique at school, a crazy grandma. But somehow just when I thought “Oh, this is a how to be popular and why it’s not worth it book” or “Yeah, this is a misfit somehow learns to fit in” book or this is a “boys and girls break out of stereotypical roles” book or even “this is a be true to yourself” book, the story would transcend all of those formulas while incorporating them at the same time.

Back up a step. Alice goes looking for a friend in her new suburban neighborhood, and she happens to meet Zen, Zenithal Stevie Wonder Malinowski. If Zen is anything, he’s strange, quirky, weird, odd. He’s overweight. He loves lemonade and fashion and teen magazines. He’s allergic to the sun. He crimps his hair. He wants to give Alice a makeover so that she’ll be ready to enter middle school. His ambition is to open a total body salon in California. He’d be weird even in California.

Zen made me a little uncomfortable at first. There’s an obvious role reversal thing going on in the book, and sometimes it’s a little over the top. It’s hard to believe that any intelligent twelve year old wouldn’t realize that acting the way Zen acts is a recipe for social ostracism. And it’s hard to believe that Zen wouldn’t at least try to mitigate his behavior to fit in at school. Still, in the book he doesn’t, and by the end of the story he’s able to demonstrate for the entire school his “one true voice.”

Zen’s “church” Seacoast Spiritual Center (hosted by Elder Brightstar) also made me a little uneasy. It’s obvious from the description in the book that Zen goes to a New Age, leftover hippie, spiritually anything goes gathering for social misfits and crystal gazers. It’s not my idea of real spiritual sustenance. But the people at Seacoast are a loving and accepting community who take Zen as he is and help him to develop his own gifts, not a bad pattern for the true church of Jesus Christ to emulate. It really is possible to accept people with all their eccentricities while maintaining a set of core beliefs that are non-negotiable.

Jane, the protagonist and narrator of My One Hundred Adventures, also has a weird church and a weird family. Jane herself is boringly conventional, but she and her mom live a bohemian life in a beach house along with Jane’s three younger siblings. And over the course of the summer a succession of men come along, one of whom may or may not be Jane’s dad. Jane also becomes enslaved to a Bible-toting healer/preacher/fortune teller and to the wife of a violent alcoholic who needs a babysitter for her unruly kids. Jane’s “adventures” (not nearly 100, which bothered me) consist of being blackmailed into babysitting and being coerced into dropping Bibles on unsuspecting victims. The writing is good, but the story is just too odd to be believable or enjoyable.

So, in the final analysis I’m saying yes to the quirky unconventional characters, but no to a plot that’s too quirky or creaky to sustain my interest.

Other reviews of these books:

Diane Chen at Practically Paradise on From Alice to Zen: I love the realistic questioning and searching for one’s self that occurs in this book. Alice doesn’t need excessive drama to realize she can make choices and be herself in middle school. She finds a way to accept herself, make her own choices of friends, and help others gain acceptance.

Tanya at Children’s Books on My One Hundred Adventures: “I was overwhelmed with admiration for Polly Horvath’s skill at writing a virtual minefield of spirit crushing adults for her main character to navigate, coming out scathed, but whole and, in Jane’s case, with a budding sense of compassion, acceptance and appreciation for the world around her.”

Children’s Fiction of 2008: The Calder Game by Blue Balliett

Oct27

Yes, this book tells a story with characters and a plot, a beginning and an ending: three friends work together to solve the mystery of a missing Alexander Calder sculpture. But I’m not sure it’s about all that traditional mystery genre stuff; it’s more about mobiles, and games, and the free play of ideas.

“A mobile, one might say, is a little private celebration, an object defined by its movement and having no other existence. It is a flower that fades when it ceases to move, a pure play of movement in the sense that we speak of a pure play of light. . . . There is more of the unpredictable about them than in any other human creation. No human brain, not even their creator’s, could possibly foresee all the complex combinations of which they are capable.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre

A reader will get out of this book what he puts into it. If you’re not willing to work at it a bit, take the dead ends with a playful attitude, make lemonade from the lemons, then find another book. I almost did because I’m really a rather prosaic kind of gal. But I’m glad I persisted. Even though I thought the plot was rather mundane, the book itself was anything but pedestrian. I got to think about mobiles and art and play in a new way. The book asks questions: What is art? Can art change people’s perceptions? Can it make people see things differently? What is the difference between art and play? What is the place of art in our communities and in our living spaces? Can art enter our relationships and change them, too?

“A mobile is a moving, changing collection of objects constantly in motion, yet within the framework of a form. The framework of a family gives form, but as one starts with a man and woman, a mother and father, there is never any one day following another when these two, plus the children that come through adoption or birth into the home, are either the same age or at the same point of growth. Every individual is growing, changing, developing or declining – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, physically and psychologically. A family is a group of individuals who are affecting each otherâ€¦as each individual person is changing.” ~Edith Schaeffer

The Calder Game is, on the surface, a mystery adventure tale, and that’s its weakest aspect. Beneath the surface it’s profound on the subject of art and the influence of movement in art without being pretentious, and that’s where it shines. The book will challenge readers to find their own strengths and create their own mobiles. I predict that some kids, and some adults, won’t get it. But others will be inspired by the messiness of the game to take creativity to another level.

“The underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof.” ~Alexander Calder

“Think of the mobiles of God, the Artist, brought forth by the wind that He created. The wind, blowing in the trees, swaying the grass, bending a field of wheat as a ballet, rising again, bending again. The spray of the ocean, wild waves against rocks bringing forth a curve of spray, a mobile of spray. Light through spray, like thousands of diamonds blowing on invisible threads! The movement of the birth trees’ delicate branches and sensitive leaves twinkling and twisting, fluttering in a breeze; or clouds drifting slowly across a clear sky or scudding in swift movements as shapes change – God’s mobiles.” ~Edith Schaeffer

So, a non-traditional book deserves a non-traditional review. (By the way, I haven’t read Balliett’s first two books in this series yet, Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3, but I plan to read them as soon as I get through Cybils season.)

Other more sequential blogger reviews:

KidsReads: “Like its predecessors, THE CALDER GAME utilizes real information about art, artists and places (in this case, the Cotswolds’ Blenheim Palace and its famous maze) to get readers excited about learning. It also shows how kids, each of whom has his or her unique way of thinking and problem-solving, can work together to make connections and find patterns. Unlike the previous two books, however, THE CALDER GAME relies more solidly on evidence, clues and deductive reasoning to arrive at its conclusion — resulting in a novel that will satisfy mystery fans as well as art lovers.”

Shelf Elf: “I donâ€™t think this is a book for every kid. What Balliett is good at is creating a rich, half under-the-surface exploration of how art, philosophy, logic and people intersect. This book will really appeal to a certain sort of child – a kid who likes to look for connections, who spends time thinking about questions, who is a problem solver.”

Saturday Review of Books: June 21, 2008

Jun20

“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”
G.K. Chesterton

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books. Hereâ€™s how it works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime this week of a book youâ€™re reading or a book youâ€™ve read. The review doesnâ€™t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Now post a link here to the specific post where youâ€™ve written your book review. Donâ€™t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after youâ€™ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book youâ€™re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews theyâ€™re most interested in reading.

1. Carrie K. (Life Studies)
2. Carrie (My Cousin Rachel)
3. Why Homeschool (The Laughing Cavalier)
4. gautami tripathy (The Snow Leopard)
5. gautami tripathy (Matrimony)
6. gautami tripathy (The Awakening)
7. gautami tripathy (Adventures of Spirou–Graphic Novel)
8. pussreboots (Measuring the World)
9. pussreboots (The Light in the Forest)
10. pussreboots (She Who Hears the Sun)
11. pussreboots (Diary of the Boy King Tutankhamen)
12. pussreboots (Peacocks)
13. pussreboots (Girl Genius)
14. Semicolon (Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary)
15. Semicolon (The Zookeeper\’s WIfe)
16. Semicolon (The Remains of the Day)
17. Hope (Brideshead Revisited)
18. The Book Smugglers (Your Scandalous Ways)
19. The Book Smugglers (Living Dead in Dallas)
20. The Book Smugglers (Kitty Goes to Washington)
21. Jane-Much Ado (Sunsets by Deborah Howard)
22. Jane-Much Ado (Love in the time of Cholera)
23. Katrina (A Pure Swift Cry)
24. Mo (Charles Kuralt\’s American Moments)
25. cloudscome (Note by Note)
26. Mrs S | Blue Archipelago (What if…? By Steve Lee)
27. writer2b (The Book of Job)
28. DebD (Mother Gavrilia: Ascetic of Love)
29. Alessandra (The Thirteenth Tale)
30. Sarah N. (Naked Babies)
31. Jennifer, 5 Min for Mom
32. MFS (Note by Note)
33. MFS (On the nightstand)
34. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Reaching for Sun)
35. Staci at Writing and Living (Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Exp
36. Margaret (The Bark of the Bog Owl)
37. Margaret (America Alone)
38. Trish (A Rumor of War)
39. Trish (A Midsummer Night\’s Dream)
40. Joy (The Well and the Mine)

81. Nicola (A Treasury of Victorian Murder)
82. Nicola (1846 Hamilton)
83. Nicola (The Vows of Silence)
84. Nicola (Children\’s Bible Story Book)
85. Nicola (Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind)
86. Nicola (The Family Under the Bridge)
87. Nicola (First Meetings in the Enderverse)
88. Jen Robinson (Ellie McDoodle #2)
89. Kara (Blue Dahlia)
90. Kara (The Face of Deception)
91. Terri B. (The Historian)
92. Krakovianka (May reading list)
93. Terri B. (Desert Noir)
94. Miss Erin (The Patron Saint of Butterflies)
95. Miss Erin (Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains)
96. Darla D (The Lightning Thief)
97. Darla D (Mister Monday)
98. Darla D (Truly Winnie)
99. Darla D (Johnny and the Dead)
100. Darla D (The Christopher Killer)
101. Darla D (The Devil\’s Other Storybook)
102. Darla D (Blood Noir)
103. Darla D (Vampire Night, Volume 4)
104. Tasses (Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson)
105. Marg (Two Anne Bishop books Sebastian and Belladonna)
106. Marg (Warlord)
107. Jaime (Hollywood Crows)
108. Jaime (Heartbreaker)
109. Jaime (Sharp Teeth)
110. Jaime (Murder on the Links)
111. Jaime (Plum Lucky)
112. Jaime (A Cold Dark Place)
113. Dewey (Gifted)
114. Christina (White Lilacs)
115. Kay (The Constant Princess)
116. Kate (The Dante Club)
117. Kate (Slightly Dangerous)
118. Josette (Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul)
119. Frank Wilson (All Hallows Eve)

Scroll down or click to peruse yesterday’s Poetry Friday Round-up where you can experience such disparate poetical delights as G.K. Chesterton, Sappho, Yeats, Tennyson, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo E.,Christina Rossetti, Coleridge, John Donne, Shakespeare, and Wendell Berry and more modern poetry for wishing, dreaming, traveling, changing, concentrating, moving, romancing, teaching, adventuring, waiting, cloud-watching, bird-listening. Read child-friendly poetry about people and lemonade and dogs and weasels and prose explaining Mother Goose rhymes. Study such poetical forms as diamante, rictameter, acrostic, 15 words, ballad, and even take a form poetry quiz. And more. Even some Alice Cooper!?

Saturday Review of Books: February 23, 2008

Feb23

Learning to read . . . we slowly learn to read ourselves. Once we learn how to read, even if then we do not live more wisely, we can at least begin to be aware of why we have not.”
Mark Shorer

1. Carrie K. (The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop)
2. Carrie, (Little House on the Prairie Series, Part I)
3. pussreboots (The Halloween Play)
4. pussreboots (The Fattening of America)
5. pussreboots (The Dame in the Kimono)
6. Heidi@MtHope (Brave New World and more)
7. Maw Books (Nineteen Minutes)
8. Maw Books (The Memory Keeper\’s Daughter)
9. Maw Books (Austenland)
10. Moomin Light (Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination)
11. Laura (The Soul of a Chef)
12. Laura (The Power of One)
13. Jen Robinson (The time Thief)
14. Framed (Shadows on the Rock)
15. Framed (Eclipse)
16. Valentina (Set in Stone)
17. Maw Books (The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency)
18. Why Homeschool (The Surprising Power of Family Meals)
19. Marg (Island in the Sea of Time
20. Marg (Two Elm Creek Quilts books)
21. Jane – Much Ado (Summer, Between Sundays, Quaker Summer)
22. The Book Smugglers (Dead Witch Walking)
23. The Book Smugglers (Wicked Deeds on a Winter\’s Night)
24. The Book Smugglers (Working for the Devil)
25. The Book Smugglers (No Rest for the Wicked)
26. gautami tripathy (American Gods)
27. Laura (The Sea, the Sea)
28. DebD (Godric)
29. JustOneMoreBook! Podcast (A Bird About to Sing)
30. Nicola (Shadow of the Hegemon)
31. Nicola (Across the Wall)
32. Nicola (Triptych)
33. Nicola (Into the Woods)
34. Nicola (The Slave Dancer)

35. Nicola (The Grizzly Bear Family Book)
36. Nicola (Little Pear and the Rabbits)
37. Nicola (The Night Tourist)
38. Mo (The Mists of Avalon)
39. Joy (The Tuesday Night Club)
40. writer2b (Diary of a Country Priest)
41. Darla D (Water Tales)
42. Darla D (Undead and Unwed)
43. Darla D (Death Note, Vol. 2)
44. Darla D (Spirits That Walk in Shadow)
45. Ruth (Books read recently)
46. Trish (Water for Elephants)
47. Julie D. (Seven Archangels: Annihilation)
48. Shelf Elf (Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess)
49. Wendy (The Outcast)
50. Wendy (The Outcast)
51. Wendy (Theft of the Master)
52. Amy(Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen)
53. Wendy (The Night Watch)
54. SCB (How to Home School)
55. Wendy (The Translator: A Tribesman\’s Memoir of Darfur)
56. Wendy (Life and Times of Michael K)
57. Wendy (Alentejo Blue)
58. Breeni Books (Forbidden: The Revolution)
59. Carol(Rick Steves\’ Postcards from Europe)
60. Breeni Books (Snakehead: An Alex Rider Adventure)
61. Breeni Books (Firefly Lane)
62. Breeni Books (Alphabet of Dinosaurs)
63. Breeni Books (Charlie Bird: The Best Bird Ever)
64. Breeni Books (Alphabet of Insects)
65. Becky (Yoko)
66. Becky (Felix and the Worrier)
67. Becky (Max Cleans Up)
68. Becky (Noisy Nora)

69. Becky (Help Me Mr. Mutt)
70. Becky (Matilda)
71. Becky (B is for Betsy)
72. Becky (The Mats)
73. Becky (Shades of Gray)
74. Becky (The Moffats)
75. Suzanne (Lief Enger)
76. Becky (Old Twentieth)
77. Becky (Entertainer and the Bybbuk)
78. Bookgal (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
79. Bookgal (Plum Lucky)
80. violet (Symphony of Secrets)
81. Stephanie (Coraline)
82. MamaBugs (We Serve Too!)
83. Mindy Withrow (The Outcast by Sadie Jones)
84. Girl Detective (Northanger Abbey)
85. Alisia (The Translator: A Tribesman\’s Memoir of Darfur)
86. Kathryn (The Divine Comedy/Inferno)
87. Lynne (Italian Lessons)
88. Lynne (The Color Purple)
89. Megan (Make Lemonade)
90. Jennifer, Snapshot (Water for Elephants)
91. Petunia (Firefly Lane)
92. MrsPages (The Road to Damietta)
93. Robin (Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real)
94. CQ in DC (The Accidental Mother)
95. Belgianwaffle (The Deptford Trilogy, An Accidental Diplomat, Reading in the Dark, Affluenza)
96. Mike (Shriek: An Afterword)
97. Amrita (Exodus)
98. 60goingon16 (Gilead)
99. Lindsay (Peace Like a RIver)
100. kepgeek (The Philippian Fragment)

The Gender Gap in Middle Grade Fiction Nominees for the Cybil Award

Jan7

Books whose main character is a boy: 22

Books whose main character is a girl: 43

Books with both a boy and a girl as main characters: 6 Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko, Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook by K.C. Dyer, Regarding the Bees by Kate Klise.

Unclassified: 3 The Cat on the Mat Is Flat, Annie: The Mysterious Morgan Horse, Cork and Fuzz.

One interesting thing is that several of the books attempt middle school romance, usually disastrous, while others go for BFF relationships between a fifth or sixth grade boy and a girl. No Talking by Andrew Clements is more realistic about this age group, I think, as the boys and the girls compete in a no talking contest, and Clements still portrays the underlying interest in the opposite sex without pretending that boys and girls as best buddies is typical in elementary school. Even in seventh or eighth grade, the girls are much more interested than the guys usually are.

In an earlier post, I listed all the Cybils nominees in which there was what I called “an ambiguously platonic friendship” between a middle school aged boy and girl: The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by P.G. Kain, The Queen of 33rd Street and the Broken Bike Boy by Sharon Flake, Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest by Karen Pavlicin, The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy, Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook by K.C. Dyer, Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, Qwikpick Adventure Society by Sam Riddleburger, The Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney, Way Down Deep by Ruth White, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora Tate, Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson.

Of course, some of the friendships were more ambiguous than others. In some of the books with seventh and eighth grade protagonists, it was obvious that the boy and the girl were more than “just friends” or wanted to be more than just friends. In books with younger characters, the girl and the boy were often portrayed as simply friends with no complications stemming from gender or romance. Two of the more realistic situations were:

The Middle of Somewhere in which twelve year old Ronnie meets thirteen (?) year old Howard, the two become friends and work together to find Ronnie’s lost little brother. It’s obvious in the book that Ronnie and Howard are interested in one another romantically, but taking it slow as behooves young teenagers.

Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, in which Lucy Rose is teased unmercifully by the class bully about her friendship with Melonhead and a central element in the book is Lucy Rose’s attempt to keep her friendship with Melonhead intact while avoiding the stigma of “being in love”.

And in all of this “gender gap” stuff, it’s the boys who lose out. More books are written for girls, fewer for boys. The ratio is 22:43, girls win. And I think it gets worse as we move into young adult fiction. See this post at Chasing Ray for a much more articulate discussion of this phenomenon.

What I’m trying to say, poorly but trying, is that just sticking a guy in the book as the girl protagonist’s “best friend” or “latent romantic interest” won’t work to make boys want to read the books. Karate Kid, my ten year old boy, reads books with both male and female main characters, but the books have to have something else, usually action and lots of it, to hold his interest. He’s not much interested in fictional romance, and I really doubt he will be anytime soon, maybe never. Brown Bear Daughter, age 13, reads mostly books about girls, but one of her favorites from the Cybils list was The Mysterious Benedict Society, a book with a group of children at the center, two boys and two girls. She likes mystery, spies, and a touch of romance.

Girls and boys both read Harry Potter and love it. So, what does it take to get the typical middle grade or high school boy interested in reading a book? And whatever it takes, should publishers and authors be producing more of it?

Books Read 2007

The Twelve Best Books I Read in 2007

A list of the rest of the books I read in 2007:

Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout A- Semicolon review here.

An Abundance of Katharines by John Green. Semicolon review here.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy. Semicolon review here.

The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever the Epidemic That Shaped our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby. Semicolon review here.

Annie’s War by Jacqueline Levering Sullivan. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Austenland by Shannon Hale. I first read about this book at Camille’s Book Moot. She refers to a review at Bookshelves of Doom. It was enjoyable chick-lit, nothing serious, for Jane Austen fans only. I can’t imagine anyone else finding the book of interest, but I can imagine especially young single fans of Mr. Darcy/Colin Firth finding the book to be a good way to spend an afternoon.

And Both Were Young by Madeleine L’Engle. I read this one for my Madeleine L’Engle project, but I haven’t gotten around to reviewing it.

Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. Semicolon review here.

Atonement by Ian McEwan. Semicolon review here.

The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. C+ Recommended by Jane at Much Ado. Semicolon review here.

Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. Semicolon review here.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley. Brown Bear’s review here.

Bird Springs by Carolyn Marsden. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Bittter Bierceâ€”Gratton

Blackthorn Winter by Kathryn Reiss. Semicolon review here.

Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death by Richard Peck. Semicolon review here.

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey. A re-read, but I read the first time many years ago. Semicolon review here.

Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson. I didn’t get around to reviewing this book by one of my favorite Newbery authors. It’s about a strike in the early 1900’s, the early days of labor organizing. The girl who is the main character is afraid that her mother and older sister will be hurt or even killed as they participate in a strike.

The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon G. Flake. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild. Semicolon review here.

Caddy Ever After by Hilary Mckay. Semicolon review here.

Camel Bells by Janne Carlsson. Set in Afghanistan before and during the Russian occupation.

Camel Rider by Prue Mason. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton. Semicolon review here.

Camilla by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolon review here.

The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin. Recommended by Cindy at Dominion family. I enjoyed this golden era mystery, reminiscent of Agatha, Dorothy, and Josephine. But not as absorbing.

Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Celesteâ€™s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Chess Rumble by G. Neri. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Clarice Bean, Donâ€™t Look Now by Lauren Child. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Clementine Churchill–Soames Recommended by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead. I read most of this biography before I had to return it to the library. Good book, good life.

Code Orange by Carolyn Cooney. Semicolon review here.

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac. Semicolon mini-review here.

A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler. Recommended by author Charles McCarry.

Come Back to Afghanistan by Said Hyder Akbar. Semicolon review here.

Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi.

Cross-X by Joe Miller. Semicolon review here.

The Cure by Athol Dickson. Semicolon review here.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. I read this book for the Once Upon a Time Faery Challenge, but I haven’t reviewed it either. Go here for a list of links to all the Once Upon a Time Faery Challenge reviews of fairy tale/fantasy/folk tale ralated books.

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes. 1924 Newbery Award winner. Semicolon review here. And here’s a review from Sandy D. at The Newbery Project.

Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Death of a Maid by M.C. Beaton.

Desperate Journey by Jim Murphy B+ Semicolon review here.

Divided Minds by Pamela Spiro Wagner and Carolyn Spiro, M.D. Subtitled: Twin Sisters and Their Journey Through Schizophrenia.

Do Not Pass Go by Kirkpatrick Hill. Semicolon review here.

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz A- Winner of the 2007 Cybil Award for Middle School Fiction.

Eclipse by Andrea Cheng. Semicolon review here.

Edna St. Vincent Millay by Carolyn Daffron I read this biography in preparation for a discussion in my American literature class at our homeschool co-op.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. Cybils Middle Grade FIction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. Semicolon review here.

Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer.

Escape from Egypt by Sonia Levitin. Semicolon review here.

Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salibury. Semicolon mini-review here.

The Faraway Lurs by Harry Behn. Semicolon review here.

Feed by M.T. Anderson. Semicolon review here.

The Fencing Master by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Interesting suspense novel set in Spain, written by a Spanish author.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. Semicolon review here.

First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover by Mitali Perkins. Semicolon review here.

The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Childrenâ€™s Books by Kathleen Horning BRecommended by Mindy at propernoun.net. Actually, I skimmed a lot of this book; the information seemed fairly basic and self-explanatory, but maybe if I were new to the world of children’s literature . . .

Gap Creek: The Story of a Marriage by Robert Morgan. Semicolon review here.

The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan. Semicolon review here.

The Geographer’s Library by Jon Fasman. B Recommended at Flos Carmeli by Steven. Semicolon review here.

Gentle’s Holler by Kerry Madden. First book in a trilogy about the Weems family who live in a “holler” in the hills of N.C.

The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum. Semicolon review here.

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith. Great if you liked the other books in this No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I did.

Gossamer by Lois Lowry B+ Semicolon review here.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I re-read this one for American literature, too.

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh. I’m just not sure Eeeevelyn and I are on the same wave length. Both of the books I’ve read by Waugh just seem a little . . . off, somehow. Maybe it’s me.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson.

The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock. Re-read.

Hendersonâ€™s Spear by Ronald Wright. Semicolon review here.

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck.

Hershey by Michael Dâ€™Antonio. Chocolatey, Semicolon review here.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. Semicolon review here.

A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton. Semicolon review here.

Home Fires Burning by Penelope J. Stokes.

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. Cybils Middle Grade fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Semicolon review here.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Semicolon review here.

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko.

In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols.

Inklings by Melanie Jeschke.

Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Jeeves in the Offing by P.G. Wodehouse. Semicolon review here.

Judgement on Deltchev by Eric Ambler.

Katherine by Anya Seton. Recommended by Heather at Matted Spam.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. Semicolon review here.

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller. Finalist for the 2007 Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction.

Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb by Kirsten Miller. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

The Lacemaker and the Princess by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Semicolon review here.

The Lemonade War by Jaqueline Davies. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Leave It to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse. Semicolon review here.

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza. Semicolon review here.

Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

The Liar’s Diary by Patry Francis. Semicolon review here.

London Calling by Edward Bloor.

Louisianaâ€™s Song by Kerry Madden. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Loving Will Shakespeare by Carolyn Meyer. Semicolon review here.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks.

The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman. Semicolon review here.

Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Pieces by Katy Kelly. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer. Semicolon review here.

Marika by Andrea Cheng. Semicolon review here.

Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin. Semicolon review here.

Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold by Michael Benanav. Semicolon review here.

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce. I read this one because I liked Framed, another finalist for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction.

Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Nazi Officer’s Wife–Beer Recommended by Cindy at Dominion family.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Semicolon review here.

Nick and Norahâ€™s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Semicolon review here.

Night by Elie Wiesel. Semicolon comments here.

No Talking! by Andrew Clements. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

North by Donna Jo Napoli. Semicolon review here.

Odd Thomas–Koontz Recommended by Joy (Thoughts of Joy) Also recommended by Amy Sleepy Reader.

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Semicolon review here. I read this book because I like Dickens and for my LOST reading project.

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler.

Perch, Mrs Sackets, and Crow’s Nest by Karen Pavlicin. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Penina Levine is a Hard Boiled Egg by Rebecca O’Connell. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Penny From Heaven–Holm B Recommended by Jen Robinson. And by Miss Erin. Penny From Heaven was named a Newbery Honor Book for 2006. I thought it was solid, but not great.

A Place in the Sun by Jill Rubalcaba. Semicolon review here.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Semicolon review here.

Portrait of Jenny by Robert Nathan. Semicolon review here.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I only read about half of this book before I realized that I was tired of all the people in the book. Question I wrote in my journal for the month: Will I grow to at least like the characters in this book if I keep reading or will I grow more and more tired of them? I didn’t finish because I decided the latter feeling was more likely.

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. I read this play for my American literature class at homeschool co-op.

Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells. Semicolon review here.

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins. Semicolon review here.

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley MM Blume. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes. Semicolon review here.

Runaround by Helen Hemphill. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Seeing Sky-Blue Pink by Candice Ransom. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

The Severed Wasp by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolon review here.

Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton. Semicolon review here.

Sheep and Goat by Marleen Westera. I read this one myself and then with the two youngest urchins. I liked the story about a pair of crochety friends who share a meadow, but I found two places in the book where it was edited poorly. Obviously wrong words should not be allowed to get through the publishing process and into print.

The Small Rain by Madeleine Lâ€™Engle. Semicolon review here

The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by PG Kain. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Song of the Magdalene by Donna Jo Napoli. Semicolon review here.

Sovereign by C.J. Sansom. Semicolon review here.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Semicolon review here.

Spelldown by Karen Luddy. Semicolon review here.

The Story of Jonas by Maurine Dahlberg. Semicolon review here.

Summer of Light by Dale Cramer. Interview with Dale Cramer.

Surviving Antartica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White It wasn’t until I reached the end of this book that I realized that its author is the wife of the mayor of Houston. How many of you have a mayor whose wife writes YA fiction? Decent, well-written YA fiction.

Tall TalesThat Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake.

The Theft and the Miracle by Rebecca Wade. Semicolon review here.

The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

Three Houses by Angela Thirkell. Semicolon review here.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre B Semicolon review here.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Re-read for the American literature class I’m teaching at our homeschool co-op.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Read for my Lost Reading Project. Semicolon review here.

Way Down Deep by Ruth White. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee. Semicolon review here.

When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy. Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee.

A Winter’s Love by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolon review here.

Writing Down the Bones–Goldberg

Read Togethers: Cybil Nominees Paired and Grouped by Topics and Themes

Dec26

Adoption from another culture: When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden (Vietnam) and Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent (Korea).

Appreciating and defending one’s cultural heritage in a sometimes hostile world: Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate (African-American), Penina Levine Is a Hard-Boiled Egg by Rebecca O’Connell (Jewish-American), Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac (Native American), Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent (Korean American).

Aspiring actor/actress: Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Child.

Aspiring pianists: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban and The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley M.M. Blume.

Aspiring writers: The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy and The Qwikpick Adventure Society by Sam Riddleburger.

Baseball: Edward’s Eyes by Patricia Maclachlan and The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles.

Best friends break up (boys): The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles and The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff.

Best friends break-up (girls): Emma-Jean Lazurus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt and If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko.

Best friend moves away: My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowes, Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Child, and Tall Tales by Karen Day.

Boy/friend mentored by girl’s dad: The Queen of 33rd Street and the Broken Bike Boy by Sharon Flake and A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban.

Boys against girls: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies and No Talking by Andrew Clements.

Cross-cultural understanding: Camel Rider by Prue Mason, Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden.

Dad has mental health issues: Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes (clinical depression), Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden (brain damage), and A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban (agoraphobia?).

Dad is abusive or borderline abusive: Tall Tales by Karen Day and The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy.

Dad skips out or is missing: The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight, Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson, and Bird Springs by Carolyn Marsden.

Dad/daughter relationship is particularly loving and strong: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, The Queen of 33rd Street and the Broken Bike Boy by Sharon Flake, The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy, Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins, Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson, Seeing Sky Blue Pink by Candice Ransom.

Diary/journal form (there should be a word for this form of fiction): Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne, Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac, Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook by K.C. Dyer, Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel by Ruth Barshaw.

Dog stories: Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata and The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight.

Elderly caretaker relative has a stroke: Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer and Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate.

Elderly, eccentric friend: The Queen of 33rd Street and the Broken Bike Boy by Sharon Flake and Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest by Karen Pavlicin.

Epistolary novels: Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes and Regarding the Bees by Kate Klise.

Girl goes to a psychiatrist: Dear Jo by Christian Kilbourne and Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Girl living in poverty in Southeast Asia: Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins and When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden.

Girls with somewhat limited social skills: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis, and The Queen of 33rd Street and the Broken Bike Boy by Sharon Flake.

Girls pursuing popularity: The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt, The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by P.G. Kain, Freak by Marcella Pixley.

Guy and girl develop an ambiguously platonic friendship: The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by P.G. Kain, The Queen of 33rd Street and the Broken Bike Boy by Sharon Flake, Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest by Karen Pavlicin, The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy, Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook by K.C. Dyer, Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, Qwikpick Adventure Society by Sam Riddleburger, The Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney, Way Down Deep by Ruth White, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban, Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora Tate, Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson. (Is this a required element in middle school/middle grade fiction?)

Horse stories: Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan and Annie, The Morgan Horse by Ellen F. Feld.

Imaginary friends: Annie’s War by Jacqueline Levering Sullivan, Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey, and Bird Springs by Carolyn Marsden.

Kids try to find a way to earn (beg, borrow or steal) a lot of money for a good purpose: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, How To Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor, Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, and Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes, Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins.

Large families: Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden and Edward’s Eyes by Patricia Maclachlan.

Mean boy (bully) at school: Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Childs, The Social Experiments of Dorrie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by P.G. Kain,

Mean girl (usually popular) at school: The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko, The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight, The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley M.M. Blume, Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, Freak by Marcella Pixley.

New kid in town/school must make new friends: Tall Tales by Karen Day, The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt, Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey, The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by P.G. Kain and Wild Girls by Pat Murphy.

Older brother headed for serious trouble/in rebellion: Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer Holm, The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy, Tall Tales by Karen Day, Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden.

Orphans: Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller, Way Down Deep by Ruth White.

Overcoming and living with physical challenges: The Thing about Georgie by Lisa Graff and Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.

Parents in marital counseling: The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy and The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt.

Poetic novels: Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, Chess Rumble by G. Neri, The Cat on the Mat Is Flat by Andy Griffiths.

Protagonist is a spoiled, selfish brat: Camel Rider by Prue Mason and The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon Flake.

Protagonist must stay with an eccentric relative while his/her single parent recovers from illness or accident: “>The Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney and Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate.

Single parent, only child: Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate, The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy, Annie’s War by Jacqueline Levering Sullivan, Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson, Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac, Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest by Karen Pavlicin, The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis, Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson.

Spies: Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Child, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, and Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb by Kirsten Miller.

Stuffed animal is a girl’s best friend: The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight and Seeing Sky Blue Pink by Candice Ransom.

Telling lies/deception: Tall Tales by Karen Day, The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt, The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon Flake, Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelley, and Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis.

Books for Giving

Dec20

What are you going to be when you grow up? Every child gets asked this question at least once a month, and they usually have an answer, according to their interests of the season. I asked my urchins and a few friends The Question and then wracked my brain for gift suggestions for the budding:

Architect/Engineer: I love David’s Macaulay’s books: Cathedral (1973), City (1974), Pyramid (1975), Underground (1976), Castle (1977), Unbuilding (1980), Mill (1983), and Ship (1993). We also watched several episodes of the PBS series Building Big in which Mr. Macaulay explains the history and construction of bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers, domes, and dams. My kids were even inspired to build their own dam. If you haven’t experienced David Macaulay’s books, you should. Any one of them would make a great Christmas gift for the architecturally inquisitive child or adult on your list.

Veterinarian/Circus Performer: Z-baby is planning serial careers. She says she wants to be a vet, then when she gets tired of doctoring animals, she plans a second career as a circus performer —or maybe taking care of the circus animals. When she gets a little older the James Herriot series about a Yorkshire veterinarian would be a great gift. For now, I think we’ll stick with a few animal books, such as Dogs and Cats by Steve Jenkins or A Horse in the House and Other Strange But True Animal Stories by Gail Ablow or May I Pet Your Dog?: The How-to Guide for Kids Meeting Dogs (and Dogs Meeting Kids) by Stephanie Calmenson —-all nominees for the Cybil Award for Nonfiction Picture Books.

Doctor: I have another child who plans to become a people doctor. She’s a little older than Z-baby, so for her, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey and Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Phillip Yancey and Paul Brand.

Dancer: Brown Bear Daughter plans a career in dance. She may dance or teach dance or choreograph dance or do all three and then some. Or knowing my drama queen, she may veer off in another direction as she grows up and surprise us all, including herself. If she hadn’t already read it, I would go out immediately and buy her Noel Streatfield’s classic Ballet Shoes. However, she has read it, several times. She wants a copy of the new Kiki Strike book, Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb by Kirsten Miller; that’s to feed her sense of adventure and of the dramatic. Then, I think perhaps I’ll purchase some of the other “shoes” books by Streatfield if I can find them.

Samurai Warrior: I think Karate Kid knows that he probably can’t really become a samurai, but he would like to pretend a little while longer. For him, The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden may be under the tree. N.D. Wilson’s new book, 100 Cupboards doesn’t release until December 26th, but I may pre-order it for Karate Kid. It sounds as if it will be just his speed, and he really enjoyed Wilson’s first book for children Leepike Ridge.

Artist: My 18 year old artiste wants an art book. I’m looking for suggestions. I thought maybe a subscription to Image, a quarterly journal that describes itself as “a unique forum for the best writing and artwork that is informed byâ€”or grapples withâ€”religious faith. We have never been interested in art that merely regurgitates dogma or falls back on easy answers or didacticism. Instead, our focus has been on writing and visual artwork that embody a spiritual struggle, that seek to strike a balance between tradition and a profound openness to the world. . . . Each issue explores this relationship through outstanding fiction, poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, film, music, interviews, and dance. Image also features four-color reproductions of visual art.”

Writer: I have several would-be writers in the family. I thought the book Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing, just published in October, might be helpful. I saw it mentioned at somebody’s blog. And as for old stand-bys, On Writing Well by WIlliam Zinser and Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg are both books that have inspired and honed my writing skills, such as they are. Another Cybils nominee, You Can Write a Story by Lisa Bullard, looks good for the younger set of aspiring writers. And “fictionally” speaking, I liked The Wild Girls by Pat Murphey, about a couple of middle school aged writers and their adventures in a summer writing class at Berkley.

Entrepreneur: I have one kid who just wants to grow up to be rich. For him, The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies (Semicolon review here) and The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill are good choices in the fiction category.

Cybils for Giving

Dec15

All of the following books were nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. Links are to a Semicolon review of the book in question.

For the gifted child looking for special opportunities: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

For the baseball fan: The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles or Edward’s Eyes by Patricia Maclachan.

For the strong, silent type: No Talking by Andrew Clements.

For the spiritual seeker: Leap of Faith by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley.

For the entrepreneur: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies.

For the wild would-be writer: The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy.

For the dog lover and the soldier: Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata.

For the prospective spy: Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Child or The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

For the guide dog trainer: The Friskative Dog by Susan Straight.

For the horse-lover: Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan.

For the songwriter and the artist: Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden.

For the upwardly mobile shopper chick: The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt.

For the girl scientist who aspires to popularity: Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand by PG Kain.

For the person with hidden talents: The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker.

For the student of African-American history: Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate or Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

For the logical and the singular (and for those who live with a logically left-brained person): Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis.

For the internet addict: Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne.

For the bear-lover: Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac.

For the organist/pianist: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban.

For the ambitious adventurer: Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson or Leepike Ridge by Nathan D. Wilson.

For the chess strategist with or without anger issues: Chess Rumble by G. Neri.

For the immigrant: Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.

For the Korean-American adoptee: Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent.

For the girl who would be queen: The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon G. Flake.

For the communication specialist: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller.

For the potential desert survivor: Camel Rider by Prue Mason.

For the scrapbooking middle schooler: Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm.

For the puzzle-solver: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin.

For the gardener/poet: Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.

For the grower of giant pumpkins (or any giant vegetable): Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy.

For the older sister with responsibilities: The Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney.

Nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction (so far)

Nov10

I’m on the nominating panel for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. The Cybil Awards are blogger-nominated and blogger-chosen awards for children’s and young adult literature. This year is the second year for the Cybil Awards (2006 winners), and we’ve had a lot of books nominated in seven categories: Picture Books; Non-fiction Picture Books; Middle Grade fiction; Poetry; Young Adult fiction; Non-fiction (YA/MG); and Graphic Novels.

Anyone with an e-mail address may nominate one book per category. Then groups of bloggers get to work. First, a nominating committee reads ALL the titles in a given category. After nearly two arduous months, this committee winnows the nominees to five finalists. A second committee of bloggers considers the shortlist and, after much debate, chooses the best of the best for 2007. The nominations close on November 21. So if your favorite middle grade fiction book, published in 2007, is NOT on this list go over to the Cybils blog and nominate it. Or if you have a favorite 2007 book in another category, check to see if it’s been nominated.

As if I don’t have enough to read . . .

Annie’s War by Jacqueline Levering Sullivan.

Annie: The Mysterious Morgan Horse by Ellen F Feld.

Aurora County All Stars by Deborah Wiles. Semicolon review of The Aurora County All-Stars.

Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac

Bird Springs by Carolyn Marsden.

The Broken Bike Boy & The Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon Flake. Semicolon review of The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street.

Camel Rider by Prue Mason. Semicolon review of Camel Rider.

Cassie Was Here by Caroline Hickey.

Cat on the Mat is Flat by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton.

Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E Tate. Semicolon review here.

Chess Rumble by G Neri.

Clarice Bean, Don’t Look Now by Lauren Child.

Class Favorite by Taylor Morris.

Cork & Fuzz: Good Sports by Dori J. Chaconas, illustrated by Lisa McCue. Betsy-Bee and Semicolon joint review of Cork and Fuzz.

Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban.

Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Karate Kid reviews Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Edward’s Eyes by Patricia Maclachlan.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Ellie McDoodle by Ruth Barshaw.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. Brown Bear and Semicolon joint review of Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree.

Freak by Marcella Pixley.

Friskative Dog by Susan Straight.

Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley.

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. Semicolon review of Home of the Brave.

Honestly, Mallory! by Laurie Friedman

How To Steal A Dog by Barbara O’Connor. Karate Kid’s review of How To Steal a Dog.

If a Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko. Brown Bear and Semicolon review If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

The Isle of the Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson

Kiki Strke: The Empress’s Tomb by Kirsten Miller. Brown Bear’s review of Kiki Strike, the first book in this series.

Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent.

Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Leepike Ridge by Nathan D. Wilson. Karate Kid’s review of Leepike Ridge. Semicolon review of Leepike Ridge.

Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. Karate Kid’s review of The Lemonade War. Semicolon review of The Lemonade War.

Letters from Rapunzel by Sarah Lewis Holmes.

Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden. Semicolon review of Louisiana’s Song.

Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Bits and Pieces by Katy Kelly.

Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy.

The Middle of Somewhere by JB Cheany Semicolon review of The Middle of Somewhere.

Middle School is Worse Than Meat Loaf by Jennifer Holm. Semicolon review of Middle Is Worse Than Meatloaf.

Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller. Semicolon review of Miss Spitfire.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Like Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford. Besty-Bee and Semicolon joint review of Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little.

My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe.

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Stewart. Semicolon review of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

No Castles Here by ACE Bauer

No Talking by Andrew Clements. Karate Kid and Semicolon joint review of No Talking.

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Penina Levine is a Hard Boiled Egg by Rebecca O’Connell.

Perch, Mrs Sackets, and Crows Nest by Karen Pavlicin.

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin.

Qwikpick Adventure Society by Sam Riddleburger

Reaching For Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Semicolon review here.

Regarding the Bees by Kate & Sara Klise

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins. Semicolon review of Rickshaw Girl.

Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley MM Blume. Semicolon review of The Rising Star of Rusty Nail.

Runaround by Helen Hemphill.

The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt.

Seeing Sky Blue Pink by Candice Ransom.

So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yee.

Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Duped by Popular Demand by PG Kain.

Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf. Semicolon review of Someone Named Eva.

The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker.

Tales of a Texas Boy by Marva Dasef.

Tall Tales by Karen Day. Semicolon review here.

The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff. Semicolon review of The Thing About Georgie.

Twelve by Lauren Myracle

Way Down Deep by Ruth White. Semicolon review of Way Down Deep.

Webb’s Wondrous Tales Book 2 by Mack Webb & Celia Webb (illus).

Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt.

What the Dickens by Gregory Maguire

When Heaven Fell by Carolyn Marsden

Wild Girls by Pat Murphy.